Three Best Juicers for Leafy Greens:

 

Once you really get into juicing you will want to make leafy green juices: kale, spinach, parsley, wheatgrass, and others. These are supernutrients. They are the types of juices that are richest in antioxidants, phytonutrients, and enzymes. When you make a juice with leafy greens, you can’t use the more common juicer—the centrifugal juicer. You need a masticating juicer.

I’m going to give a review of the three best juicers for leafy greens.

First, an overview of what makes something “the right” for juicing leafy greens.

There are three basic types of juicers:

Citrus Juicers- These are the original juicers. They are used for making orange juices, juicing lemons and limes. They were originally hand powered: either hand crushed on a point or else crushed with a lever. The later designs included some which had an electric motor that would help with the juicing. I have a review on the best citrus juicers here.

Centrifugal Juicers– These were the first generation mainstream juicers. You could juice apples, carrots, celery, spinach and lots of other vegetables. They were great because the finally let people make juice from things like celery and apples. The problem was that they didn’t handle leafy greens well. Things like parsley, spinach and kale really were not juiced well. They got stuck in the blades or spit out the chute. I remember using an old centrifugal juicer to make a green drink and it didn’t turn out well. The leafy greens were not juiced. The pulp was not only wet, but a lot of the leafy greens simply would not get juiced.

Things like wheatgrass was really almost impossible to juice well. Wheatgrass was so hard to juice with these first generation juicers that people ended up designing a special juicer for wheatgrass. These special juicers are still sold for people who mainly make wheatgrass. I use a auger style masticating juicer for my wheatgrass. I don’t like the idea of using a separate juicer. If you are going to make lots of wheatgrass and make it separate from your regular juice, then it might be an idea.

Masticating Juicers aka Auger Juicers- These came along after the centrifugal juicers and are superior. They “squeeze” instead of chop up and dice with the blades of a centrifugal juicer.

I always tell people that they should use a masticating aka Auger juicer for leafy greens.

It’s a better style juicer. There are a lot of reasons, but here are the main points:

• Cold Pressed Juice
• More Juice is Extracted
• Handles Leafy Greens
• Quiet

My final comments:

The yield (the amount of juice extracted) when you use the Omega or GreenStar is going to be more. So if you are looking for ultimate juice extraction then I would choose either the Omega or GreenStar.

The Omega and GreenStar are also better for pure green drinks. If you are looking for best juicer for leafy greens then you have to get a horizontal model. The vertical models are not as good at extracting juice from leafy greens. Both, however, are much superior to the centrifugal models.

If you want something that is fast, then I would choose the Kuving. 

Omega and GreenStar (Horizantal)

• Best Juice Extraction
• Less Expensive

Kuving (Vertical)

• Less Prep Required (Wide Mouth means no vegetable cutting)

 

Here are the 3 best juicers for Leafy Greens

#1 Omega

This is the juicer I use. It is easy to operate, quiet, and it is super duty. It’s also the most popular juicer for leafy greens. The Omega is also the most affordable of the top of the line juicers. The other masticating juicers cost a bit more. They offer different things. Some are twin gears, as opposed to a single auger. Others are stand up. There is also a large feed tube on one model.

There is a small amount of food prep required. You have to chop up apples, carrots, celery into small chunks.

If you are on a budget, and don’t mind doing some vegetable and fruit prep then this is a perfect model.

I like the chrome design. It makes them easy to clean. The body can be sponged off after use. The auger and the feed tube and filter all wash off under running water. There is a small brush that comes with the juicer. This is helpful for doing a quick scrub on the assembly—filter and auger.

Unlike a centrifugal juicer, you won’t have to scrub it very hard. There is nothing for the pulp to get stuck in.

 

#2 Green Star

The Green Star is a twin auger juicer. This means that there is twice the squeezing power. Some people like the twin gear because it doubles the squeezing power without increasing heat. Too much heat will destroy the valuable enzymes in the juice.

The Green Star has a handle on the top. This makes it easy to carry. Some people like to keep their juicer in a cupboard, so the handle is a real help.

The Green Star also has lots of versatility. Most people will only use their masticating juicer for making green drinks, but if you do want to make organic nut butters, then you can do that as well. The Omega and the Green Star both

You get really fresh juice that has all of the nutrients preserved. The pulp that comes out of the machine is dry. That shows you how much liquid is extracted.

The main difference between the Omega and the Green Star is the twin gear technology.

I prefer Chrome, but Green Star only makes one in a white.

While some people claim you get a higher mineral content when you use the GreenStar, I can’t be sure.

I do think that two gears would put less stress on the motor. So that would be good for the lifespan of the appliance.

It’s a slow speed, cold process juicer.

 

3. Kuvings Whole Slow Juicer

This is my recommendation for people who want a wide mouth masticating juicer.  It is also an upright design. If you don’t like the horizontal designs of the Omega or Green Star, then this is a really good alternative.

There are a few other vertical masticating juicers, but the Kuving seems to get the better reviews.

The main advantage to the Kuvings is the widemouth feature. If you don’t like doing vegetable prep—cutting carrots, apples, or cutting down bunches of leafy greens into smaller sections,–then this is a perfect choice.

I like my Omega Juicer. But, If I was going to get a brand new juicer for leafy greens, I would seriously consider getting the Kuvings Whole Juicer. For a few reasons:

•  It eliminates the prep time.

1. The wide mouth.

When I add a lemon to my wheatgrass and kale juice I have to quarter the lemon. Likewise, I have to chop an apple into sections. It is not something that is terribly time consuming, but it would be nice to have the option to just stick the whole lemon in.

It has the slow motor and the cold juice extraction.

The motor turns at 50-60 RPMs which is slow. This preserves the enzymes and antioxidants.